Good times in pictures

My trip home was nawt all emo reflection howevah - ah did have a rawkin time, despite tha logistics....

Ah left my house at 5:45 AM on Thursday mornin ta catch a 7:30 flight, n arrived about when ah was supposed ta. Then ah went out fer way too much veggie food at my favorite NOVA veg restaurant Sunflower. Aftahwerds ah gawta margarita w. my boy Damian - Damian is actually one of my newer friends in NOVA, even tho we've been hangin out fer ovah a decade now.

Friday ah was off ta lunch w. some of my old SUUSI girls, n then ah swung by my organizations DC office fer a couple hours ta speak geek n databases. Ah met up w. tha fabulous Jen Hitt fer some musick, n then it was off ta a party consistin of a bunch of my friends n burners. Well, Jen n Todd had SOME non-burner friends ah guess :)

Tha party was a good time...it lived up to it's West Coast promises, which wasn't entirely my fault. My homeboy E. Jay brought a djembe which facilitated hippy dance-times, n all tha burners brought thar open-minds n crap. Howevah tha burner world did turn out two wondahful surprises as well.

Oh yeah, pictures:

Ah made sure ta eat seth before he left

Ah must've had a grand experience howevah, cuz ah even freestyled near tha end of tha nite, somethang thas only happened a half a dozen times at most. It requires a very particular blend of intoxication n comfortability, as well as feelin like ah have somethang ta rap about.

Tha guy next ta me was cool but also a lil obvious in how much he was tryin ta git laid, n also needed more songs ta sing at parties

Then it snowed. Ah fergawt ta git pictures, but ah didn't like that. No sir, ah didn't like that bullshit. Howevah, ah gawta cute pic of me w. Todd that mornin:


He just looks so happy ta be next ta me

Finally ah went back ta NOVA n had dinnah w. E. Jay n my rents:


N then ah wrote tha previous post when he left.

Ah did indeed stay up all nite my last evenin in NOVA. Grabbed some Z's on tha plane, n tha second ah gawt back ah was in full-motion. First thangs first, ah werked my usual shift at tha yoga studio. Then ah went home fer a couple hours, had some food, n went back to tha yoga studio ta finish up. Aftah some (result-less) shoppin, ah was back w. enuff time ta snack, showah, n git dressed fer tha SF Bike Coalition Winter Fest. Ah like tha SFBC, n ah like pourin beer fer them (partially cuz ah always end up gittin a few free ones that way). W. tha combination of everythang, ah gawt apparently really hammered.


Ah remembah havin a good time, but ah don't remembah who these people are

Then ah rode home in tha rain. Awesome, really it was.

Whew! WTB is auditionin vocalists this week, ah am meetin w. two guitarists n one potential drummer fer Severe Bass, n gaein to tha Symphony on Saturday. Also our new roommate moved in. N it's been cold as shit (in tha low 40s!)

December, ahma kick yer sorry ass! You'd bettah git outta here before we git intae it....

Punk Rawk N Roll

Well, we did it. The Mysterious Odors gawt tha fawk back togetha n rawked out fer a killah weekend in Los Angeles.

Thursday ah werked most of tha day n then hightailed it to tha airport. Aftah some traffic n bollox, ah had a rental car n was on my way ta reunite w. some crazy ass dudes. It all took longah then expected, which was expected, but we ended up in tha same place at tha same time w. some instruments n cans of liquid smarties n then thangs gawt stanky.



It was pretty awesome. We practiced Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings. Saturday ah took a visit to an unlikely museum, The Museum of Jurassic Technology. Ah especially enjoyed tha miniature displays (both of em).

Sunday, it was time. We went to Downey, California, and we blew it up. We tore yer head off. We jumped around, fucked a PA, gawt our sparks on, and basically left that place in ruins. Ah still can't believe we didn't git arrested.


Sometime before all this ah gawt pissed off at tha best dispensary in LA fer needin my original documentation, but still managed to end up samplin some of snoop dogg's private reserve.

We decided tha debauchery wasn't ovah yet since ah wasn't leavin until Tuesday, so on Monday we went n recorded ourselves w. both video n audio in tha practice spot. It is ridiculous. Really ridiculous. All we have now is whas on tha site: EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW!

IF anyone ken tell me of free easy software that allows me to cut and paste sections of audio/video in m4v format, ahll git you some real songs too.

Also, we have youtube videos of us enjoyin ourselves aftah tha debaucherous recordin session. We decided we should follow Upper Deck and Chief Limberger to work. N git drunk. Which is exactly what we did.


(in tha parkin lot on top of a van)

Ah drank prolly 7 sparks that day. That was stupid. My stomach hates me.

Anyway, ahm back in SF now, back ta werk tomorrow. Oh yeah, but before ah fergit:

Wee the Band CDs are in my hot lil hands!!!

You will git to enjoy soon. Just lemme settle back in fer a day er so.

Ah give $30 to tha local musick scene

Most of my contributions to tha SF scene is by way of bartendahs - ah don't gae to all that many shows except tha ones ahm playin at as of these days. But on Sunday ah went ta see my friend Brian Ostreicher's band Geographer have thar CD release at tha Cafe Du Nord at tha bottom of tha Haight. Tha venue is very nice, excellant sound (sounds like a cd playin from tha outside, until you git rite up to tha floor), chill, decently priced drinks (red strip fer 4.50 but thars a $10 covah? Deal.), etc. Wasn't really intae tha opener (altho it apparently included membahs of bright eyes n tha botticellis, as well as tha closin band, which ahll git ta), but Geographer sounded great. So ah paid tha covah n bought an album from them n tha closer.

Real quick - Bri is one of tha best drummers ah know n an old Berklee friend whos place ah spent MUCH time at. He actually helped tha Mysterious Odors come about, altho he wasn't directly involved. Tha band is also comprised of his friend (my Berklee acquaintence) Nathan, a nasty cello playah (sometimes playin 6-string electric cello), n thar friend Mike Deni, principal writer/singer/guitar/keys. They used ta have anutha vocalist/keyboardist, Kasey, but she left ta pursue her own thang. At tha CD release they had a session basist sit in w. them. What this all means tho, is they have a very interestin n different sound, playin intae tha indie-electronic thang, which is big now. N that seein Brian have tha CD release fer one of his major projects just felt good ta me, cuz ahve known tha guy fer so long.

So, ah plug downloadin thar tracks - when else when you git indie electronic w. cello? n harmonies?

But, ahll admit that tha real draw was tha headliner Judgement Day who ahve already plugged in tha BG, a metal band made up of drums, cello, and violin. And they totally rawk. Ahd checked them out before tha show n knew ah was gawna be buyin thar album Dark Opus. N they made a zombie video.

Part of me meant ta hang out aftah tha show just ta know them how much ah dug what they were up to, but it was late on a Sunday n ah was drunk n ah knew tha bike ride home would be cool, so ah split. Ah did myspace them w. adorin messages n comments so they know ahm creepy like that.

A lil ado about Severe

Ahd like ta first note that this is my 101st blog entry - altho that numbah does include tha 11-er-so entries made a couple years back in a slang that is most definitely nawt Severe - strange as it may have been.

Do I have a place to live yet? no. Do I feel better about those odds? Maybe. Ask me on Friday.

I still don't know how much tha ticket will cost - bargh.

Howevah, ah had a good weekend.

My lil bro graduated himself from college on Saturday w. a schmance degree in Electrical Engineering. Guess which of us is makin more money?

So ah flew intae tha East Coast on Virgin Airlines fer a ridiculously low fair like 130 each way fer a direct flight. Note to all you folx who should visit when ah have a place ta live - Virgin Airlines rawks! In flight tv, musick, games, chat w. people in otha seats, yep, its pretty good.

Ah apologize to you DC Metro folx who may just be learnin now that ah was in town. Suffice ta say, ah was nawt around fer long, n knew ah wouldn't have much hang out time, n gave my best friend from jr. high dibs on my company. Please don't feel like ah dont love and miss you - ah just didn't need to try and squeeze in more then that. Ah'll catch you next time, ah promise.

Tha majority of tha time was of kerse spent in Richmond eating food and sitting through ceremonies, altho Saturday night had a particularly kickass turn out of folks to remind me why ah love richmond and tha people who inhabit it. And sleeping, b/c:

My trip out, while quick, was a bit heavy. Work on Thursday until 6, n then straight to SFO via BART. Overnite flite ta Dulles, a nap, a drive ta richmond, n then a graduation ceremony/dinnah. Sleep and then up fer ANUTHA graduation ceremony, more food, n eventually tha aforementioned nite drinking on a porch. Tha next mornin - more food, wandering, n drivin back to DC. Ah woke up this mornin at 5:20 am Eastern (thas 2:20 am Pacific), took at 7 am flight home, and then went to werk fer 5 hours - surprisingly busy and productive. Actually, if my work load was that big all tha time, ah could justify a raise pretty quickly...

N now ahm back, tired, playin my bass, n sendin out more emails about how great of a roommate ah am. Thars some gigs that have popped up fer tha next couple weeks - includin a likely confliction between think13 n mr. teagarden. How dae ah decide? - Diplomatically. First come, first served is tha way mr. Severe werks in that department - at least in theory. We shall see....

HELLZ YES!

Ah gawt an offer from a prestigious Environmental Organization ta be a Program Assistant today!!!!!!

ah cannot explain how relieved n excited ah am that this has finally happened....aftah 4 fawkin months, somebody has finally recognized that ah would be a kickass full-time employee. N while ah would prolly take just about any offer ah gawt at this point in time, this is a group ah would LOVE ta werk fer.

AND tha place ahm currently tempin wants ta talk ta me tomorrow about possibly makin me full-time cuz my boss loves my work n my personality. My guess is - they can't make me an offer tomorrow, even tho if they could, it would pay me WAY WAY more then tha place that did. HOWEVAH, ahve been here too long ta turn down a real offer, fer a job ah want, fer a potential bettah offer at a job ah also want. Maybe if ahd only been here 2 months, ahd be willin ta take a chance, but my loyalty lies w. whoevah ken pay me a livin wage...guaranteed. N that would be door numbah 1.....

but its like a weight has been lifted. Ah can't describe how good it feels ta finally have this stuipd job thang taken care of. N now ah ken officially start lookin fer new digs in tha city.

My life is comin togetha, n ah am eternally grateful fer these opportunities, n tha support of my friends during this entire transition. It's hard ta nawt think ah made tha right move leavin my comfortable and happy (but easy) life in NOVA fer tha great trendy unknown.

Much love and appreciation fer you, my friends, n to tha universe fer bringin us togetha. Sometimes life is hard...sometimes life is shitty...sometimes life is good....n right now, LIFE IS AWESOME!